New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) today issued board guidelines for conduct of general elections and bye-elections during COVID-19.
Guidelines to be followed
GENERAL GUIDELINES TO BE FOLLOWED DURING ENTIRE ELECTION PROCESSES
FOR ALL PERSONS
1) Every person shall wear face mask during every election related activity.
2) At the entry of hall/ room/ premises used for election purposes:
(a) Thermal Scanning of all persons shall be carried out;
(b) Sanitizer, soap and water shall be made available.
3) Social distancing shall be maintained as per the extant COVID-19guidelines of the State Govt. and Ministry of Home Affairs.
4) As far as practicable, large halls should be identified and utilized to ensuresocial distancing norms.
5) Adequate number of vehicles shall be mobilized for movement of pollingpersonnel, security personnel to ensure compliance of COVID-19guidelines.
- NODAL HEALTH OFFICER: Nodal Health Officer shall be designated for the State, the District and theAssembly Constituency to oversee COVID-19 related arrangements and,preventive measures during entire electoral process.
- EVM s /VVPAT s:
1) First & Second randomization and preparation of EVMs/VVPATs shall bedone in large halls.
2) Sanitizers shall be provided in sufficient quantity for use during theprocess.
3) Gloves shall be made available to each official handling EVM/VVPAT.
- TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING
1) As far as practicable, training of election officials will be organized indecentralized manner at large halls.
2) Training for election officials may be organized through online mode.
3) All PPTs, training materials, relevant documents, topic wise video clips,question papers for self-assessment may be uploaded in app/ portal sothat any election official can access it as per requirement.
4) Sufficient number of Polling/Counting/Poll related staffs shall also bekept in reserve by DEO/RO, to replace in case any polling personneldisplays COVlD-l9 symptoms.
NOMINATION PROCESS
- Following additional options to facilitate online mode are hereby provided:
1) Nomination form will also be available online on the website of CEO/DEO. An intending candidate may fill in it online and its print may betaken for submitting before the Returning Officer as specified in Form-1(Rule-3 of Conduct of Election Rules 1961).
2) Affidavit may also be filled in online on the website of CEO/DEO and itsprint can be taken and after notarization it may be submitted along withthe nomination form before the Returning Officer.
3) Candidate may deposit security money through online mode at thedesignated platform. However, a candidate will continue to have theoption of deposit in cash in the treasury.
4) Candidate may have the option to seek his/her elector certification forthe purpose of nomination online .
- Further, Commission has directed:
1) Number of persons to accompany candidate for submission of Nominationis restricted to two (2). (This is in supersession of existing Para 5.8.1 ofReturning Officer’s Handbook 2019)
2) Number of vehicles for the purposes of nomination is restricted to two(2). (This is in supersession of existing Para 5.8.1 of Returning Officer’sHandbook 2019)
3) Returning Officer’s chamber should have sufficient space to performthe functions of nomination, scrutiny and symbol allocation followingsocial distancing norms.
4) Returning Officer should allot staggered time in advance to prospectivecandidates.
5) Large space for waiting for candidate(s) should be arranged.
6) All steps required to be taken for the submission of nomination formand affidavit shall continue to operate as per the provisions containedin the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
ELECTION MATERIAL
Election Material Kit will be prepared in a spacious and sufficiently large hallfollowing all safety, sanitation and social distancing measures.
- DISTRIBUTION AND COLLECTION OF ELECTION MATERIAL
1) Large halls/spaces should be identified for distribution/collection ofelection material.
2) As far as practicable, it should be organized in decentralized manner.
3) Prior staggered time should be allocated to the polling teams for distribution/collection of election material.
- TIMING OF 3rd RANDOMIZATION:
Timing for 3 rd randomization of polling staff be increased from 24 hrs to 72hrs in order to avoid large gathering of polling staff at dispatch centres.
(This is in supersession of ECI No. 464/Inst/2008/EPS dated 19 thSeptember ,
2008)
- NO. OF ELECTORS IN POLLING STATION
There shall be maximum 1000 electors instead of 1500 electors in a pollingstation.(Commission’s Instruction No.23/SEC/2020-ERS, dated 23 rd July, 2020)
- POLLING STATION ARRANGEMENTS
Commission has issued detailed instructions for assured minimum facilitiesat each polling station. Now, in view of COVID-19 situation, following additionalfacilities/steps should be taken:
1) Mandatory sanitization of Polling Station, preferably, a day before the poll.
2) Thermal Scanner at the entry point of every polling station location.
3) Thermal Checking of voters at entry point of polling station location/Polling station, either by polling staff or Para Medical staff or Asha worker.
4) If temperature is above the set norms of MoHFW at first reading, then itwill be checked twice and if it remains, then the elector shall be providedwith token/certificate and will be asked to come for voting at the lasthour of poll. At the last hour of poll, such electors shall be facilitatedvoting, strictly following COVID-19 related preventive measures.
5) Help Desk for distribution of token to the voters of first come first basis sothat they do not wait in the queue.
6) Marker to demonstrate social distancing for queue.
7) Earmarking circle for 15-20 persons of 2 yards (6 feet) distance for votersstanding in the queue depending on the availability of space. There shallbe three queues each, for male, female, and PwD/ Senior citizen voters.
8) The services of BLOs, volunteers etc may be engaged to monitor andregulate social distancing norms strictly.
9) One shaded waiting areas with chairs, dari etc. will be provided, for maleand female separately, within the polling station premises so that voterscan participate in voting without safety concerns.
10) Wherever possible, Booth App shall be used at the polling station.
11) Soap and Water shall be provided at the entry/exit point of every pollingstation.
12) Sanitizer should be provided at the entry/exit point of every polling station.
3) Face Masks in reserves for those electors who are not carrying the maskwill be kept.
14) Awareness posters on COVID-19 should be displayed at visible locations.
15) Sitting arrangement in polling station for the polling personnel andpolling agents shall be made as per the norms of social distancing.
16) If polling agent or counting agent is having temperature above theprescribed limit, then their reliever shall be allowed by Presiding Officer,who will keep a record accordingly.
17) During the process of identification of voter, the voters will require tolower the facemask for identification, when required.
18) At any given time, only 1(one) voter shall be allowed to stand in front ofeach polling official maintaining social distance.
19) Hand gloves shall be provided to the voter, for signing on the voterregister and pressing button of EVM for voting.
20) Sanitizers shall be kept inside the booth at appropriate locations withclear direction for the use by voters.
21) COVID-19 patients who are quarantined will be allowed to cast their voteat the last hour of the poll day at their respective Polling Stations, underthe supervision of health authorities, strictly following COVID-19 relatedpreventive measures. Sector Magistrates shall coordinate this in theirallocated polling stations.
22) In case of those voters who are residing in the area notified as containmentzone, guidelines shall be issued separately.
KIT FOR POLLING OFFICER
The following items shall be provided to every polling official and securitypersonnel (Other than those where PPEs are needed) in addition to otherprescribed items:
- Mask
- Sanitizer
iii. Face-Shield
- Gloves
POSTAL BALLOT
1) Option of Postal Ballot facility has been extended to the electors offollowing categories:
- Electors, who are marked as Persons with Disabilities (PwD)
- Electors above the age of 80 years
- Electors employed in notified Essential services
- Electors who are COVID- 19 positive/suspect and in quarantine (home/institutional)
2) Guidelines for each of these categories are being issued separately.
CAMPAIGN BY THE POLITICAL PARTIES/CONTESTING CANDIDATES
1) Door to Door Campaign- Subject to any other restriction(s) including extantCOVID-19 guidelines, a group of 5 (five) persons including candidates,excluding security personnel, if any, is allowed to do door to doorcampaigning.
2) Road Shows – The convoy of vehicles should be broken after every 5 (five)vehicles instead of 10 vehicles (excluding the security vehicles, if any). Theinterval between two sets of convoy of vehicles should be half an hourinstead of gap of 100 meters. (In supersession of Para 5.8.1 of ReturningOfficer’s Handbook 2019)
3) Election Meetings – Public gatherings/ rallies may be conducted subject toadherence to extant COVID-19 guidelines. District Election Officer shouldtake following steps for this purpose:
(a) District Election Officer should, in advance, identify dedicated groundsfor public gathering with clearly marked Entry/Exit points.
(b) In all such identified grounds, the District Election Officer should, inadvance, put markers to ensure social distancing norms by theattendees.
(c) Nodal District Health Officer should be involved in the process toensure that all COVID-19 related guidelines are adhered to by allconcerned in the district.
(d) District Election Officer and District Superintendent of Police shouldensure that the number of attendees does not exceed the limitprescribed by State Disaster Management Authority for publicgatherings.
(e) DEO should depute Sector Health Regulators to oversee that COVID-19instructions/guidelines are being followed during these meetings.
(f) The political parties and candidates concerned should ensure that allCOVID-19 related requirement like face masks, sanitizers, thermalscanning etc. are fulfilled during each of these activities.
(g) Non-compliance of Instructions – Anybody violating instructionson COVID-19 measures will be liable to proceeded against asper the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster ManagementAct, 2005, besides legal action under Section 188 of the IPC, and otherlegal provisions as applicable, as specified in Order No.40-3/2020-DM-I(A) dated 29th July, 2020 of Ministry of HomeAffairs. District Election Officer should bring this to the notice of allconcerned.
4) Allocation of public spaces must be done using Suvidha app in the manneralready prescribed by Commission.
STRONG-ROOM ARRANGEMENT
1) Strong Room should be sanitized after completion of poll day.
2) Social Distancing and other safety norms shall be followed for each activity.
COUNTING OF VOTES
1) Not more than 7 counting tables should be allowed in a counting hall.Hence, counting of votes of a constituency may be considered at 3-4 hallsby appointing additional Assistant Returning Officers. (In supersession ofinstructions dated 30 th April, 2014)
2) Carrying cases of CUs/VVPATs should be sanitized before placing overcounting tables.
3) De-sealing of CUs/VVPATs and displaying Result on CU should be done byone official on each table.
4) Display of result from the Control Units may be displayed on a large screento avoid accommodation of large number of counting agents.
5) The counting centers shall be disinfected before, during and after thecounting.
6) For counting of Postal Ballots, additional number of AROs may be required.If required, Postal Ballots may also be counted in a separate hall under thesupervision of the Returning Officer/Assistant Returning officer.